Dealing with Anxiety

March 27, 2018

There’s different types of anxiety and each one has different levels of severity but they all have one thing in common; they will mess your life up if you don’t learn how to deal with it. Anxiety can take control of your life and leave you feeling alone. It can lead to panic attacks, depression, and even suicide. What I want to do with this post is; let you know that you are NOT alone and give you some tips that worked for me with my anxiety. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor of any kind I just simply want to extend a hand to some of you that may need it. I hope these tips can help you deal with anxiety like they’ve helped me.

Panic Attacks

I think we can all agree that these ‘episodes’ are NOT fun. Panic attacks are the worst feeling/pain I’ve, personally, ever been through. When I go through my panic attacks I experience shortness of breath, dizziness, blurred vision, chest pain, numb fingers and toes, and I shake terribly. My heart beats out of my chest, I can also hear and smell everything. I’ve had internal battles with myself to try and convince myself that I’m not going to die or that I’m not in any danger, but my body felt otherwise. Panic attacks are confusing, exhausting, and really fucking scary.

Here’s how I personally deal with them.

Tip #1 – Know before you go

Before you jump head first into a situation that you know may make you uneasy prepare yourself. Do not convince yourself that everything is going to be okay because you already know it’s not. DO, however, prepare yourself for the upcoming event. Help yourself understand how many people may be there, that drinking may be involved and others may not know how to control themselves, loud music may be apart of the situation, people you don’t know may talk to you so don’t freak out. All in all understand the environment you are about to be in before you go.

Tip #2 – Breathe

I know this sounds so easy but if you’ve had anxiety or a panic attack you should understand how hard this can be. Breathing exercises are important to staying calm for me. Breathing is the one thing that I can control; the shaking, the pounding heart, and the dizziness are things I can’t. So, in order to calm down I focus on my breathing nothing else. The fearful thoughts may be running through my head and I can’t stop them but I try my best to breathe through it. I also have an App Breathe2Relax. The benefits listed are as follows:

Lowers stress

Reduces anxiety

Increases energy reserve

Controls anger

Stabilizes mood

Focuses the mind

Improves overall mental health

Tip #3 – Don’t Tense Up

Having a panic attack can force your body to tense up. Relax your muscles one at time, slowly, and actually feel them start to slack. Try this along with slow deep breathing. Be sure to loosen your facial muscles and un-clench your teeth, open your mouth and rotate your jaw.

Tip #4 – Don’t Wait

Do Not wait until you are having a panic attack to start to think positively and start your breathing exercises. Practice these tips regularly to help you when you actually are having a panic attack. You’ll gain confidence for when you are having a panic attack to be able to gather yourself.

Anxiety

Anxiety, for me, intertwines with my depression about 80 percent of the time. By that I mean some days I don’t want to wake up; I’ll just stay in bed all day and out of nowhere a rush of negative thoughts will consume me. I’ll start to feel my throat closing and I’ll get a little light headed. So the depression in that case was me not wanting to get out of bed for whatever reason (feeling down) and the anxiety was the rush of negative thoughts and the throat closing and light headed feeling. When I feel that anxiety come over me I absolutely just want to be alone; I don’t want people near me because I don’t feel ‘normal’. I just want to eat everything, watch, cartoons, and sleep. For me that’s not the healthiest way of dealing with it. Here are some things I do now that have helped.

Tip #1 – Talk it out

Call, text, snap, or write someone…anyone. Getting out of my head is important to me. I work alone and I live alone so I’m constantly in my head thinking thoughts lol. So, writing and talking to other people for me is a much needed release. Humans are a social being we need interactions to survive so we don’t go all crazy! I personally am not a super social person, however, I have a few set of friends that I can truly just unload with no judgement. Talk to them and tell them those crazy anxious thoughts. But don’t forget to listen too, they might have some great advice and insight. If you find it more stressful to talk about your anxiety then DON’T talk about anything else. Just chat it up with your friend.

Tip #2 – Being alone is okay…SOMETIMES

Sometimes being alone is necessary as long as you are productive. Clean the house, go grocery shopping, re-organize your closet, read a book, do something. Don’t do anything that will stress you out more like pay bills, lol. If cleaning or shopping is stressful for you then take a walk outside or workout. As long as you are not sitting on the couch or laying in bed for an elongated period of time stewing in your thoughts.

Tip #3 – Surround yourself with Good People

Surround yourself with good people. By that I mean people who motivate you, people who not only take from you but give just as much, and people who you can count on. Having good people around can truly change your mindset for the better. Having that love, positivity, and support can uplift you out of your anxiety and depression. They will give you the strength you need to succeed.